Gaming & Culture —

Blizzard responds to Diablo III graphics controversy

A large number of Diablo fans have complained about the games new, brighter …

While many fans rejoiced when Blizzard finally announced that the long-awaited third Diablo game was actually coming, others were disappointed with the game's direction. In fact, nearly 25,000 people have signed an online petition begging Blizzard to change the art style of Diablo III.

Producer Keith Lee has now defended the graphical style—which the petition claims is a "cartoonish art direction, obviously influenced by the WarCraft universe"—saying that "color is your friend."

"We feel that color actually helps to create a lot of highlights in the game so that there is contrast," Lee told MTV Multiplayer. "A great analogy is like in Lord of the Rings—not everything is dark. It allows you to see what a creepy dungeon can be like, but if everything is dark it doesn’t allow you to have a lot of contrast.”

Lee went on to explain that one of the reasons for the graphical shift was that in Diablo III players will be exploring many more outdoor environments, as opposed to the original games which had a greater emphasis on dark, dreary dungeons. "We want to bring as much variety as we can when you're playing the game so that you’re excited to check out new environments," he explained. "We don't want everything to look the same and that's really what we're trying to aim for."